My church was kind enough to offer free babysitting services Friday so couples could go see the movie Courageous. (My husband and I were winners of a drawing, so we received two free tickets and some dinner money. Thanks CCC!)
Admittedly I didn’t have high expectations. Before we left I told my husband, “I don’t expect this movie to be any good.” Call me a cynic. (Or a realist, based on some of the Christian-produced movies I’ve watched in the past.) He responded with, “Facing the Giants was okay.”
Hey. Free babysitting. Free movie. Twenty bucks for food. This girl wasn’t complaining.
Well, maybe a little. But that’s only because I was too sick to hold my head up at dinner. After a nice salad, I regained some energy. And the theater seats were cushy. So, despite my cold, I managed pretty well.
The Trailer
My Response
Courageous is an odd little movie. It’s not even a movie. Not in a true Hollywood sense. It’s an interesting amalgam that perhaps only Christians could come up with: part entertainment, part documentary, part sermon.
Have you ever gone to the theater with no idea what you were going to see? Just walked up to the window, and picked a movie based on title and showtime? I have. If someone walked blindly into Courageous, with no expectations but to be entertained…well… Expect rotten tomatoes.
Courageous is entertaining. After the stiff acting wears off, the characters are likable. Some scenes contain laugh-out-loud humor. But this is definitely cinematic entertainment in its own class. Not a better class. Not a lesser class. Just a different class.
Well, I take that back. Sort of. The cinematography, while more than adequate, would not win any style awards. The screenwriting, while effective, will never be a model for “How to Write the Next Great Hollywood Hit”. The acting, while especially poignant in parts, deserves no Academy Award’s.
To be fair, there is some excellent writing in Courageous, and despite the stiffness of some of the actors, there are excellent dramatic portrayals in the movie, even by those who started out stiff. Nevertheless, the common movie-goer is likely to leave the theater feeling annoyed that they just paid money to get preached at. I’m not necessarily saying that’s a bad thing. It just is what it is.
Some people will hate this movie. It will likely receive low ratings mainly because the average movie-goer doesn’t appreciate the intermingling of Friday night entertainment with Sunday morning preaching.
Courageous, as a movie, exists because its creators had a message they wanted to send. (That’s how it comes across anyway.) Starting with “message-first” presents drawbacks, which are evident in the movie. Because the message is central, the story and the characters seem secondary. The plot serves the message. Characters do ‘X’, ‘Y’, and ‘Z’ so the message can be carefully revealed. There’s no chance the message will be lost to nuance…by the end of the movie, it’s clear. The makers of this movie want us to know: Dead beat dad’s are a major cause of our societal ills, and it’s time men learn how to be good fathers.
Excellent message, by the way. A powerful one, and one I agree with. Do I wish they’d tried to make their point more artfully and subtly though?
Not really.
There’s a time and a place for obvious. In this case, it works. The movie will never pass for high art, but it will certainly change the lives of those who are willing to embrace the challenge to live courageously for God.
My Recommendation
Is it something you must see in the theater? No. Although it makes a fun church outing, this is one you can watch at home. If you have teenagers, it will make for a good teaching moment.
(Any parent walking into this movie better be carrying a box of tissues. I wasn’t warned. I had to wipe my nose with my hand. Repeatedly. I apologize for all the germs I spread on my way out of the theater.)
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That’s a fair review. Thanks.
About the sermon/documentary/film mix, I still think producers should respect their chosen medium and work with it rather than shoehorn in homilies and blunt didactic. That kind of heavy-handedness stresses the vehicle and renders it neither a sermon, nor a documentary or film.
That’s just my .02. What do I know?
Thanks again for the review.
Really fair review, Jess. I think you saw it from the best perspective and delivered the appropriate “It is what it is.” Good job.
Thanks for your honest review of this film. It reminds me of The Ledge (an equivalent christianity vs. atheist movie) I watched last week. It was in no way subtle and definitely tried to sell an underlying message. Still, each of these preachy-types of movies have their place.
My husband saw this movie without me when he was out of town, and he had only good things to say about it. He said it was sincere–and that means everything to this type of film. Insincerity is impossible to mask. I’d like to see it, at his recommendation.
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